We’ve seen some absolutely wild ejections in independent baseball leagues over the years, but Sunday’s Frontier League game between the New York Boulders and Tri-City ValleyCats might’ve had itself a baseball first:
An umpire was ejected.
According to The Times Union, first base umpire Warren Nicholson was removed from the game in the first inning after a fiery argument with Boulders second baseman Tucker Nathans. The entire altercation started when the Tri-City dugout accused the Boulders of illegally using outfield cameras to steal signs. Nicholson apparently told the Boulders dugout to remove the league-permitted tablets from their bench area, and that set Nathans off in an argument.
Nathans was ejected, and at one point, Nicholson made contact with the New York player, which led to the umpire getting ejected as well.
Check it out
Have you ever seen an umpire get ejected? pic.twitter.com/ClM8pmrkoO
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 28, 2023
The broadcast showed Nicholson leaving the field through an opened gate in the outfield. An umpire should never make contact with a player. Like, that simply cannot happen.
The game would actually get delayed for an hour as the stadium crew removed a camera from center field.
It really was a whole ordeal, via The Times Union:
“Your manager in Tri-City has been accusing us of stealing signs for three days, which is offensive and embarrassing at the same time,” Boulders team president Shawn Reilly said. “The umpire went over based on Pete and he threw (Nathans) out and things got out of control. It’s unfortunate. It was not a good moment for the league. It was an embarrassing moment and it should never have happened.”
Reilly would also claim that the camera had a 30-second delay, making it impossible to steal signs with a 15-second pitch clock.
The Frontier League — which is a partner league of MLB — hadn’t commented on the incident, but fans were stunned to see an umpire get ejected.
This was how Twitter reacted
This is insane, and if you read the game story you'll find the ump being ejected was like the third-craziest thing that happened in this game. https://t.co/aHzvwl1ZRn https://t.co/IwRumxaXU9
— Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb (@simon_shargot) August 28, 2023
Like a lot of things in baseball, Earl Weaver did it first. https://t.co/Bf9HI8entV pic.twitter.com/0uAy3bQPEx
— John W. Miller (@jwmjournalist) August 28, 2023
Absolutely nothing good can come from re-engaging with a belligerent player. When it has become clear you can’t talk them down you need to walk away and stay away. Do not escalate
Situation and emotion management is the hardest part of officiating imo, it’s not making the calls. https://t.co/QrfYUQB0Ya
— Isaiah Walker (@walkeri141) August 28, 2023
We need to normalize umps getting ejected 🤣 https://t.co/ru2AP9isIi
— Cory Craig (@ContentCory) August 28, 2023
That’s a new one https://t.co/zvQtHbog8e
— Ryan Molnar (@Ryan_Molnar) August 28, 2023
Would have loved if the crew chief had hit him with the ole' "you're outta here" arm toss https://t.co/PrrFGy7T3F
— Daren Stoltzfus WESH (@DarenStoltzfus) August 28, 2023
More of this please. https://t.co/hRtNf5wdv1
— Languedoctor (@Languedoctor) August 28, 2023
I hope this happens to Angel Hernandez one day. https://t.co/liOp4rl9Tj
— TweetyFades (@TweetyFades) August 28, 2023
Need more of this. https://t.co/z5grUCtzzU
— Bob Tallen (@sapdiesel) August 28, 2023
